Review of <i>Freedom and the Self: Essays on the philosophy of David Foster Wallace,</i> Edited by Cahn, S. M. and Eckert, M., New York: Columbia University Press, 2015

No abstract available

Improved reflective coating for integrating spheres

Inorganic salts or oxide material is transparent in single-crystal form, has high refractive index, smooth cleavage, and chemical stability, is stable to radiations of interest, partially soluble and easily dispersed in liquid for spraying, and readily dried /cured/ with reasonable cohesion and adhesion, and has good mechanical stability

Integrating-sphere coating

Sodium chloride, used with proper solvent-dispersant combination, forms very durable reflective coatings. Several other inorganic salts, such as barium sulfate, barium carbonate, sodium fluoride, potassium chloride, sodium hexafluorosilicate, and aluminum oxide, are also suitable. Sodium chloride may also be used with other formulations to produce same type of coating

Automated microsyringe is highly accurate and reliable

Syringe meters small volumes of fluid used in chemical analysis. The standard body and plunger are adapted to fit with a motor driven micrometer, making a reliable and convenient device

Using the carbon management index to indicate ecosystem function in brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) agro-ecosystems of South East Queensland, Australia

Soil organic matter is an effective indicator of soil resource condition that reflects functional traits such as aggregation, infiltration and microbial activity and plays a critical role in sustaining production and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Agricultural practices typically reduce soil carbon levels through the action of soil disturbance and consequent mineralisation. In the Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) landscape we studied, soil carbon levels in pellic vertisols were significantly lower in the agricultural matrix of cropping and grasslands than in remnant Brigalow vegetation. There was no detectable gradient of soil carbon across Brigalow/matrix boundaries. Uncultivated grasslands showed signaificantly higher carbon levels than currently and previously cultivated grasslands, with regenerating grasslands showing no significant recovery of soil carbon over 15 years. The carbon management index (CMI) was used to combine the active and passive components of soil carbon to provide a sensitive indicator of the rate of change of carbon dynamics in response to changes in land management at local-scales. A landscape CMI (CMIL) was developed, by aggregating soil carbon data using GIS-derived spatial data. the landscape CMI is proposed as a potentially useful tool for modelling soil carbon dynamics and ecosystem function in agro-ecosystems at a range of spatial scales

State failure in the South Pacific and its implications for New Zealand security policy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Defence Studies at Massey University

The concept of state failure is complex, encompassing many aspects of the decline in a state, from its institutional and political capacities, to its social cohesion and economic performance. In the South Pacific, the term "failing" has been used to describe the Solomon Islands before the regional assistance mission RAMSI intervened. Its continued use to describe other countries in the region, such as Papua New Guinea or Fiji is controversial, mainly because the states of the South Pacific are generally considered much more peaceful than those in other regions labelled failing. Importantly, the geographical nature of the region itself provides a vastly different strategic context to African and European failing states which are often situated in landlocked geographies. It follows on that if Pacific Island states do experience aspects of failure (as opposed to being completely collapsed or failed) then their incapacities would breed unique security implications for the South Pacific region. This thesis aims to discern what those implications are for New Zealand policy in the South Pacific region. The method used will be to assess seven countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) and their degree to which they measure up against twelve indicators of state failure. These indicators have been borrowed from the Fund for Peace's annual Failed States Index (with their permission) and they provide the structure for the assessment

Improved fire-resistant coatings

Water-base coatings containing potassium silicate show improvement in areas of quick air-drying, crack, craze, and abrasion resistance, adherence, and leach resistance. Coatings are useful as thermal-barrier layers in furnaces, and as general purpose fire resistant surfaces where vapor impermeability is not a requirement

Fire resistant coating composition Patent

Fireproof potassium silicate coating composition, insoluble in water after applicatio

Formation of planetesimals

Formation of planetesimals is discussed. The following subject areas are covered: (1) nebular structure; (2) aerodynamics of the solid bodies in the nebula; (3) problems with gravitational instability; (4) particle growth by coagulation; properties of fractal aggregates; and (5) coagulation and settling of fractal aggregates